PM Modi recalls girl he took to school as Gujarat CM who later returned as a nurse
Navsari, Sep 8 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday recalled a girl from a poor and tribal family whom he had encouraged to attend school during his tenure as Gujarat Chief Minister, saying she returned years later with an old photograph and told him that she had become a nurse.
Speaking at a public meeting in Navsari district, PM Modi recalled his early years as Gujarat Chief Minister and his visits to villages as part of the ‘Kanya Kelavani’ campaign to promote girls’ education.
He said he would travel to villages during the intense summer heat and take girls to school, while persuading their parents to educate their daughters.
“When I was newly appointed Chief Minister of Gujarat and you all gave me the opportunity to serve, during the initial years, when I began working, I would go to villages. On June 13, 14 and 15, in the heat of 44 degrees Celsius,” PM Modi said.
He recalled that electricity was not available around the clock at the time and that many villages did not even have fans.
“For the Kanya Kelavani campaign, I would travel from village to village, hold the fingers of girls and take them to school. I would explain to their parents that they should educate their daughters,” he said.
PM Modi said the work did not always attract media attention. “It was such straightforward work that it would not get much coverage in newspapers, it would not appear on television, and nobody would take much note of it,” he said.
Despite this, he said he continued visiting villages every year. He then described meeting some of the girls again after they had grown up.
“And now, whenever I go to a village, the same girls whom I had once taken to school have now grown up. They come to me carrying those old photographs and proudly say, ‘Sir, you took me to school, and now I have become a nurse. Now I am studying in the final year’,” he emphasised.
He said such encounters provided a sense of fulfilment that could not be measured simply by the number of years a person had held public office.
“Instead of thinking about how many years someone has been Prime Minister or how many years they served as Chief Minister, think about this: When a small girl, a daughter of a poor family, a daughter of a family living in the forests, my tribal daughter, meets me again after 18 or 20 years, think about how much satisfaction that brings to life,” he said.
PM Modi said public service, when pursued consistently, could produce results that became visible only years later. He added that the blessings of people were themselves a source of motivation.
“There is so much strength in those blessings that they give us the power to do something new every day, provide inspiration and give us the strength to reach the pinnacle of hard work,” he said.
The Prime Minister linked the experience to the wider idea of service, saying the purpose of political organisation, public office and government should ultimately be to serve citizens.
–IANS
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